


You don't have to say, "I love you," to say I love you

by haarucchii



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Light Angst, M/M, Minor Character Death, Minor Original Character(s), Non-Linear Narrative, Platonic Soulmates, Questioning of Societal Expectations, Soul-Mark AU, Soulmates AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-30
Updated: 2016-07-30
Packaged: 2018-07-28 07:42:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7631161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/haarucchii/pseuds/haarucchii
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>soul mate<br/>noun<br/>noun: soulmate<br/>a person ideally suited to another as a close friend or romantic partner.</p><p>- </p><p>In which Lance's soulmate, isn't really his.</p>
            </blockquote>





	You don't have to say, "I love you," to say I love you

**Author's Note:**

> Okay...... so i hope this turns out well, since this is my first time trying to write Klance. Please treat me well, Voltron fandom! title is from troye sivan's song, for him.
> 
> unedited

When Allura and Coran land on a peaceful planet, with the declaration of having something like a day off, Lance immediately looks to Keith, who gives him an excited smile and points to the waves of water from the window. Lance feels his heart pound, and despite the water being pink and probably different from Earth, he’s just excited to be at a place with a resemblance to the beach.

For a moment, Lance can pretend he’s home.

They leave the ship in excitement, Lance puts on a spare shirt and a pair of boxers. Keith takes his shirt off, and borrows a pair of shorts from Lance. The two of them head off to the beach hand in hand, and start running as if they were in a movie. “Let’s _go._ As my boyfriend, you have to let me indulge in this at least.”

It’s something Lance sees by chance, pulling Keith along the bank and feeling his feet comfortably fit in the sand. He looks back, giving Keith that silly grin and his eyes dart down for a moment, seeing the name on his boyfriend’s arm-

Lance’s laugh dies in his throat, legs losing their function and eyes fixating on the name- written in bright red and almost handwritten on his skin. Keith nearly runs into Lance, “Babe, what’s— oh.” Keith’s eyes follow Lance’s, looking at the name that seemed to be so controversial in their world.

 _Takahashi Shirogane_ , then again, in Japanese, as if it wasn’t _obvious_ that it still wasn’t Lance’s name.

Now, it feels like Lance really is at home.

 

 

 

 

 

**\------**

 

 

 

 

 

Lance didn’t really care for the name on the small of his back when he gets it, written in English and once again in a language he soon comes to know as Korean. It was in a place so obscure that Lance never really looked at it asides when he would take his shirt off to shower, sometimes he even forgets it’s there.

He remembers when the topic comes up at school, during free time and all the students are in a circle. They’re surround Juan, who’s thirteenth birthday had passed the day before, as he began to boast about how his soul-mate is Maria- a girl a grade above them. “I haven’t told her yet, but when she sees my soul-mark, she’ll know that we’re destined.” Juan’s chin tilted up to the air haughtily. “We’re meant to be together.”

“But I heard Maria doesn’t have a soul mark!” Louis exclaimed. “She was crying about it this time last year.”

“That’s impossible!” Juan frowns. “Look-it here, her name is right here! It’ll be stupid if she didn’t have one.” He pulls his sleeve up to his bicep, which shows Maria’s full name there in a font similar to the one sees in old books.

“My mom says that if you’re born without a soul mark, you’re going to die alone.” Lana exclaims. The circle of thirteen year olds began to whisper, when one by one they began to shout out what their parents told them about the soul-marks. “Like, you’re going to just die without anyone loving you. But then God will pair you up with someone who also died alone.”

“My dad says that if you date anyone other than your soul-mate, you’re going to be reborn as something with no name because God doesn’t trust you to be loyal to someone. But if you get left by your soul-mate, you’ll be enemies in your next life.”

“My dad says that you can marry someone even if the name on their skin doesn’t match yours.” Leo pipes up, which brings silence among the children around them. “My other dad also told me about stories where your soul-mate won’t have your name, but you’ll have their name!”

“That’s impossible!”

“Leo, that’s a sin!” Lisa exclaims, covering her ears. “You don’t just have a soul-mate all willy-nilly! It’s not normal if you go with someone who’s not your soul-mate. If you marry someone who isn’t your soul-mate, that just isn’t fair to either of your soul-mates.”

Leo, upset about Lisa disregarding his dad’s words, sticks up the middle finger at her and his tongue.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lance, quiet during the situation, and prays to his God- hoping his soul-mate has Lance’s name on his skin. He thinks about the name he got on his thirteenth birthday, watching the letters form in comic sans, remembering how he had forgotten the name was there because he stayed up all night with his older siblings watching tv.

He stares at the name that night, the conversation plaguing his mind, trying to figure it out from his view in the mirror. “K-E-I-T-H G-Y-E-O-N-G,” He sounds out, writing the letters on a paper with shaking hands. “Keith,” Lance says, letting the name roll off his tongue and out his mouth. The name is something familiar to him, like comfort and home. “It’s a guy?” His heart pounds in his ears, and two words that seemed so insignificant to him then feels like his entire world now.

 

 

 

 

 

**\------**

 

 

 

 

 

When Lance has his first class at the Garrison, he sits behind a guy with a mullet and prays to God that the guy in front of him just forgot to cut it. Originally, Lance wanted to be placed in the advanced class to be a fighter pilot, because those were the pilots that normally got the chance to go on missions. His simulation grades weren’t good enough to be in fighter class, and his test marks was a shy .7% below the passing grade of being allowed to take the advanced classes for the school. _But_ he did qualify to take the basic classes for being a fighter pilot as an elective. He still works hard to get some of the best grades in this class.

Hunk, his roommate, is a mechanical engineer who got in through a scholarship, just like Lance. The guy is cool, smart and nearly prodigious with the things he comes up with. He talks to Lance about what he learns when they study in the library and Lance enjoys his company, even though he doesn’t understand the advanced mechanics and functions of the internal wires of a jet. It’s okay, though. Because Hunk doesn’t get the thrill of piloting a plane.

Thankfully, Hunk helps him understand the materials that Lance doesn’t quite get in his classes, despite being in different classes. There isn’t much that he doesn’t understand, but Lance always makes the effort to pay Hunk back every time, doing laundry, changing his sheets, choosing movies that don’t involve intense gore and clowns, little things like that that mean so much to his roommate. They get close through their equivalent exchange.

Mullet, Lance nicknames him after 4 months of sitting behind him and realizing the guy will _never_ cut his hair above the current length, and Lance fight for the best grade in the class. Lance gets a higher grade on the written portion (usually by a single percent), but Mullet always seems to get the highest grade in simulation practises.

Lance learns his name when he sees it on the scoreboard. Lance, 13th place out of 30, and Keith, 1st. “Congratulations, Keith.” The instructor says, and Mullet grins.

“Thank you.” _Keith?_ Lance thinks. _Probably a coincidence._

 

 

 

 

 

 

As first semester ends and finals finally get off Lance’s back, the grades are posted in front of their homeroom, just the name and placing in the class, Lance’s name is 5th place out of his entire grade, 26th out of the school of 1100- his personal best.

He scans the names above him lazily. Pidge- he knows, the boy never really leaves his room asides from school and simulations, Lance seems to always see him carrying an extra large cup of coffee before and after class. Below Pidge, Hunk’s name is there, but Lance also expected that, since the big guy was the one who helped him study late into the night.

At the 4th placing, Lance’s eyes go wide and confused. _Keith Gyeong. “Keith?”_ Lance exclaims. Keith turns to Lance, raising an eyebrow. “Yes?”

Keith is his Keith. His soul mate. _Keith Gyeong._

 

 

 

 

 

**\------**

 

 

 

 

 

Keith doesn’t move when Lance drops his hand. “You lied to me.” Lance says. “You said your soul-mate didn’t care about you.” Keith bites his lip, clenching his fist in thought of how to explain. “You,— why did you lie?”

“I didn’t lie,” Keith protests. “Shiro doesn’t care about this. Wait, let me rephrase that- he _doesn’t care_ that we’re soulmates. We both don’t care for it, what it should mean back on earth. Lance, we’re just friends.” Keith’s words don’t get through Lance’s head. Just Shiro’s name on his boyfriend’s arm brings back memories. “I told you, I don’t care about this soul-mate shit.”

His classmate’s voices ring in his head instead.

_It’s a sin._

_They won’t be loyal._

_It’s_ wrong _._

 _He won’t love you as much as he’ll love his_ actual _soul-mate._

“Lance?” Keith sounds so _worried,_ “Honey, Sugar, Eggs, Preheat the Oven at 340 degrees Celsius?” The blue paladin feels a hand on his shoulder, grounding him and holding him close.

“Can I…” Lance swallows his words and avoids Keith’s efforts to look him in the eyes. “Can I be alone, just for a little bit?” He thinks of people of his past, people he hasn’t thought of for years. He’s so angry at how uncomfortable he feels with himself, how confused he is for his feelings.

Keith’s hand is warm on Lance’s shoulder. He gives a gentle squeeze and backs away, “Of course. I’ll talk to you later?”

Lance doesn’t answer, and listens to the way the sand parts as Keith walks away from him. He listens to the waves of the ocean in front of him, water a weird shade of pink and nothing like home. Keith is so good to him. _Too bad, he loves Shiro._ Lance thinks bitterly. He kicks himself for the thought, and

He wants to go home, and talk to his Mama about this. He wants to ask her why. Why were all the things that weren’t supposed to happen happening to him? Why are all the things he was told not to believe biting him back in the ass right now?

 

 

 

 

 

 **\-----** -

 

 

 

 

 

“Mama,” Lance says, standing at the doorway, waiting for his mom to usher him in.

“What is it, Mijo?” His mom is tired, but she still makes the effort to give a small smile.

“What if Lea’s soulmark is someone who doesn’t have her name?”

“What do you mean by that? I’m tired, Lance. You have to explain it a little better than that.” Lance’s mother seems like she gets it, but she waits as Lance fumbles around his words.

“At school- we were talking about our soulmarks. They were saying how its a sin to even date someone who wasn’t your soul-mate. But what if… what if your soul-mate had a different name on their skin. What if it wasn’t yours?”

Lance’s mother frowns. “Mijo, don’t do that. Don’t get into something like that. It’ll be trouble. If you ever get involved with someone who’s soul-mate isn’t you, don’t get involved with them at all like that. It’s bad, mijo- like taking that person away from who really loves them.”

“But what if I love them?”

“You won’t love them as much as their soul-mate will love them.” His mama lectures. “Soul-mates are meant to be together in the world. They are meant to always be by each other’s side, to always love them. If you were to love one’s soul-mate, it is not fair to both you or that person.”

“What if their name is on my skin?” Lance furrows his eyebrows, pouting his lips. “But… on their skin, it’s another person’s name?”

“Mijo, that’s not going to happen. Such things are myths, things on TV that won’t ever happen. Go home now, Mama needs rest.” His mother leaned back down, massaging her temples and watches as Lance leaves the room, his back burning. When Lance gets home, he goes to his room, and looks out his window, ignoring his siblings as they call for him.

He thinks to himself, _Aliens probably don’t have soul-marks._ He closes his eyes. _Space doesn’t care about soul mates._

He dreams of exploring the universe by himself, nothing to hold him back. No soul-mates, no soul-marks. He dreams of going far beyond the Milky Way and into new galaxies, where there are aliens who choose the person they want to be with for life. Where there are people who love who they want without expectations pushed onto who they should love.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 **\-----** -

 

 

 

 

 

 

Keith doesn’t notice Lance when they bump into each other in the halls, or during class. He sees him at the office after information about the Kerberos mission had been revealed— fists clenched tightly at his side and jaw tightened. Lance watches for a moment, hearing his soul-mate’s angry words echo down the hall. Lance, being the gossip he is, walks a little closer to the door and listens.

“You don’t fucking _know_ what you’re talking about— Shiro was one of the best pilots in the entire academy, and Matt and Sam Holt are one of the best researchers this year, the two of them so interested in the biology and geology of possible extraterrestrials. No way they could’ve made any kind of reckless mistake like you’re telling us. There has got to me something out there, maybe it could’ve kidnapped them. We _have_ to send out a search team.” The officer’s eye twitches, as if the thought of a bunch of E.T.’S running around _doesn’t_ make sense to him.

Lance agrees with Keith on this, though. Something definitely didn’t seem right with the information handed out to the public, it wouldn’t be like Shiro to just mess up on something as important as this. There has to be something going on. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.” The officer finally says.

“ _You_ don’t know what you guys are talking about!” Keith finally explodes. “Are you denying that there can be another type of lifeform asides from Earth? Space is _huge,_ sir, and frankly, there’s more of a chance of them being kidnapped by extraterrestrials than the best group in the entire Garrison making a rookie mistake

“Mr. Gyeong, I know the situation might be a little hard to understand, what with you and Shiro’s… relationship,” Keith growls, but the officer doesn’t flinch, “But you have no obligation or level of security to get such information. What had been revealed to the public is what really happened.” The General glares down at Keith, and pushes him to the side.

Keith runs his hand through his hair, sighing in frustration and bolting out of the room, hitting Lance on the way out. There’s a shock that runs through Lance’s body at the connection. It makes Lance’s knees weak and he collapses on the floor— Keith only looks at him in mild surprise. “Oh, sorry man.” He mutters, obviously distracted and angry.

Lance grimaced, _man?_ Did he not feel what Lance had just felt? “It’s okay.” He says, standing up and dusting himself off. The question pulls at Lance’s mind, because his _soul mate_ is right in front of him, not even reacting the same way Lance had. The boy musters up his courage, hands clenching and glaring at the floor. “Did you feel that too?” He asks, finally looking up from the ground.

Keith had walked away without another thought, after Lance had proven to be okay.

 

 

 

 

 

A couple months later, Keith was kicked out of the Garrison for destructive behaviour. He got kicked out for punching out an Official. Lance, scared about thinking about the same things Keith had spoken aloud, pretends that he doesn’t think the same things.

That’s the last time Lance sees him at school. It’s also the beginning of which Lance knows to not speak against the officials.

 

 

 

 

 

 **\-----** -

 

 

 

 

 

Lance should’ve expected it.

How could he be so _stupid?_ He jabs the food goo with a spork, watching it jiggle. In front of him, he sees Shiro leaning down to Keith’s ear, the two of them talking in hushed tones. Maybe Lance is imagining it, but he can see the way they move beside each other so comfortably that they are something more than just friends. That’s something that Lance always assumed.

Well, the blue paladin thinks, it’s because they are _soulmates._

The word crushes him. He puts his spork down and stands up, causing the chair behind him to fall. “Whoops.” He muttered, and Keith’s attention turns to him. Confusion and worry etched onto his features, and Keith takes a step forward to talk to Lance. “Lance,—”

But Lance is already gone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The following days are awkward. Lance doesn’t get out of his room except for drills and actual attacks from Galran ships, even then he fakes smiles and fakes laughter. No one likes it, not even when Lance makes more mistakes than usual and it throws him off his game. The others don’t know what had happened, he didn’t expect Keith to tell them, so they continue the simulation despite the tension in the team.

The situation is as follows; a planet working for Zarkon had taken prisoners that may have information about the Holts. The people themselves aren’t Galran, so the team has to take care in causing as little casualties as possible. Lance stays back, training his accuracy sense and situation reading. Pidge practising their close combat abilities, fighting the Gladiator one-on-one while it was on level 7. Hunk needed to practice his own accuracy as well, so he worked alongside Shiro to protect the person who was to go in and save the prisoner, who had been Coran.

Also known as Keith.

Coran is moaning for help from the farthest corner of the training deck, whining for help and is writhing on the ground by the time the trio reaches them from dummies set by Allura. Keith is panting, obviously distracted and not working to his full potential. Lance is worried, but he shakes it off and shoots another dummy in the foot as it tried to get close to Hunk.

_He has Shiro, it’s okay._

Just like Lance had thought, Shiro rested a hand on Keith’s shoulder before they continued on to where Coran’s fake jail was. They nod to each other, getting the other’s wavelengths. Lance doesn’t fit in between there, he knows.

He sees a dummy follow behind the trio, and panics, accidentally shooting it in the chest.

Casualty count: 3. The trio notice and look at Lance for a moment.

Shiro shakes his head, Hunk looks nervous, but he nods to Lance in understanding. Keith gives a tiny smile.

Lance looks away and focuses on helping Pidge, disabling other dummies who try to get close to Pidge’s main fight. It looks like she’s winning the fight, so that’s good. From his peripheral vision, Shiro mumbles some words that Lance can’t hear properly in the comm over the sound of his blaster, and Keith laughs.

Casualty count: 5.

Lance curses and forces himself to focus. Shiro and Hunk will protect Keith. Shiro will protect Keith. Shiro can protect Keith, in a way that Lance can’t.

Casualty count: 7.

The simulation ends when one of them hits fifteen casualties, or when they get Coran out.

They break the Altean man out of the prison, and now they just need to escape and get to their lions. Coran fake-fainted, so Hunk carries Coran, and Shiro carries the supplies that were included for the rescue, and they head down to where Pidge had victoriously beaten the Gladiator. A dummy flies in, surprising the trio, and hits Keith hard enough that he falls to the ground.

Shiro is the first one that comes to his rescue, even though Lance had already shot the dummy in the shoulder as it passed. There’s a dummy that is following Pidge, carrying a metal rod that’s to be thought of as a gun, Lance shoots it in the head as he tries focusing on the simulation, and not the voice whispering in his head, _he doesn’t need you, he doesn’t love you._

Lance takes a steadying breath, and shakes his head. A dummy at the end of the entranceway where the trio was supposed to exit, Lance shoots it in the thigh. _Focus, you can think about your relationship later._ Lance thinks, _You’re a paladin before you are a boyfriend. You help lead Voltron, you can’t let something like this ruin the team right now._

The trio escapes the entrance. Coran is groaning in Hunk’s ear and Hunk is trying to get Coran’s hands out of his face so he can see.

They’re running to the exit, where the lions are located. Lance is guarding them from his position, trying to shoot down as many dummies as he can, before jumping down from his location and heading behind him, where his lion was located.

Casualty count: 13.

There’s a siren sound as they all reach their lions, signalling the simulation as a success. Lance feels tired.

The paladins meet in the middle of the training deck, Allura and Coran looking proud of them. “You all completed the simulation perfectly, despite some casualties, you all had managed to keep it all below fifteen. While the simulation isn’t exactly what would happen on the field, it should give you an idea about how you should act if we are given a situation like this. Good job, team. You all can do some team exercises now.”

As Allura leaves, the team goes to practise. Pidge holds onto Lance’s shoulder when he tries to move avoid the sparring area, where Lance would usually go. “Oh hello,” Lance quirks an eyebrow at his friend. “What’s up?”

“Lance, are you okay?” She asks, barely above a whisper. Everyone already has started their own exercises. Lance sees Shiro and Keith beginning to spar with each other and Lance takes a deep breath. He gives Pidge a big smile. _Focus, focus, focus._

“What do you mean? Mi amigo, I am perfectly fine. Chirpy, perfecto, absolutely incredibly oka—”

“Lance.” Pidge cuts him off, narrowing her eyes and poking his chest. “Don’t lie to me. You look like you’re bothered by something.”

“I…” Lance’s smile fell. “Yeah, I am. But I’ll be alright—”

“Just go Lance.” She says, holding her hand up to interrupt Lance. “If you’re not at your best, there’s no point to do anything strenous with us at the moment. Even if you’re at your best right now, you’re obviously off kilter for some reason, I’m not going to pry, but you should take a break.”

Lance nods, giving Pidge a small smile. “Thanks.” He leaves the room, feeling Keith’s eyes on his back. He doesn’t go to his room, but he hides in a hidden place he found after they were all rescued, and stays there for the rest of the night, clutching a old polaroid picture close to his chest.

 

 

 

 

 

 **\-----** -

 

 

 

 

 

When Lance turns fifteen, he gets stuck in the rain three hours away from his home.

He meets a nice homeless woman, who welcomes him into the bus shelter and looks into the distance. “So what are you doing here?” She asks him a few minutes after he sits down, draping a coat over his wet shoulders. Surprisingly, it smells like lavender. “I don’t think you are supposed to be here.” Lance looks at her in surprise, “You look lost.” She explains.

“Yeah, I am.” Lance nods. He isn’t really allowed to talk to strangers like this, but she gave him his coat, and they had been sitting beside each other like this for nearly ten minutes, so Lance decides that she’s good. “I was supposed to take the bus home, but I think the storm stopped it.” The two of them look in the rain now, where only a couple cars raced down the street in an effort to go home. “Thanks for letting me in here, by the way.”

The lady nods, a small smile on her face. “You’re welcome.”

They wait in silence, Lance thinking of something to say and the lady just staring into the distance. “So…” Lance starts, remembering the line his brother told him to say to ladies, “You come here often?”

The lady let out a chuckle. “On some days. How about you?”

“Not usually.” He leans back on the bench. “Hey, is it okay if I ask you a kind of personal question?”

“Hm?” The lady finally turns around to look Lance in the eyes. “What is it?”

She looks tired. “Do you have a soul mate?” He asks the first question that comes to his mind, and her tired eyes relax into reminiscence.

“Why, that is very personal.” She says. “But yes, once, I did.”

“Did?”

“She didn’t want me. So she left me.” She sighs, but it isn’t a sad sigh. "We were friends for years, and when we both turned thirteen, we were ecstatic that we were to be soul mates, because that meant we could be together forever. I love her, I still do even now.” She hums, “But as we grew older we were expected to get married, have kids, do things that she didn’t want to be forced into, things she didn’t want to be forced into being with me. We were fine with having close friendship, but everyone wanted it to be more intimate, as if us being soulmates equalled us having to get married and love each other romantically.”

“You didn’t love her like that?” The lady shrugs, eyebrows turning down and lips pouting.

“I don’t know.” She answers. “On one hand, I do love her. I will always love her. But as we spent more time being forced into being something we’re not, we both wanted to question what our love was. Maybe the pressure of it all, the ideals of being soul mates, maybe it made me view our friendship as something that should be more.”

“Aren’t soulmates supposed to be like that?” Lance asks. “That’s all they taught us.”

She shakes her head. “A soul-mate is someone so deeply connected to you that they will be with you forever. They are precious people, something the universe creates that are meant for just each other. It’s a bond so strong that it’s etched into your soul, your being. It shouldn’t be something that defines a relationship and dictates who you want to love.”

“My mom told me that no one will love you as much as your soul-mate.” He looks at the ground, looking at his laces. “Is that true? Did your soul-mate love you as much as you did?”

“Of course she did. But she didn’t want to be bound to me because of what others wanted. We talk, every couple months, but the bond we have isn’t something that is by society’s expectations.” She lifts her skirt to her knee, showing scarred tissue of where Lance assumes a name was on the middle of her calf, but something faintly shows on the healed skin. “We did this to each other when we turned twenty. Something that says that we aren’t bound to each other like that.”

“That must hurt.”

“It did, both in my soul and on my body.” She looks to the cloudy sky with a smile. “But… I feel so much lighter without it.”

The rain lets up a moment later. “Thanks for the talk!” Lance says, “I think I learned something from this, so thank you.” He digs into his pocket to tag out a twenty dollar bill, and hands it to her. “Please take this as thanks!”

The woman smiles as Lance puts the bill in her hand. “Thank you very much, son. She pats his head. “I’ll put this to good use. Thank you for talking to an old woman like me.”

He nods excitedly, then runs off to the nearest phonebooth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

He tells his mom about his encounter when he finally gets home, he tells her about her ideas about soul mates and her views, how friendly the woman was and how her actions with her soul mate. At first, his mom’s reaction was pleasant, but it morphs into something uncomfortable and irritated. “Lance, don’t say stuff like this.” She interrupts, feeling thoroughly uncomfortable with the idea.

“But Mama—” She looks at him in a way that he knows that he has to shut his mouth.

“Mijo, go sleep now.” She pats his cheek, closing her eyes and leaving the room. “There’s a reason why you are soulmates with someone, if you aren’t meant to be with them, to create a family with them, what is their point?” She asks.

Lance can’t argue with his mom, but he can’t agree with her. He doesn’t want her to be angry at him. So, as middle ground, he forgets the entire ordeal with the woman from the bus shelter, and doesn’t bring it up again.

 

 

 

 

 

 **\-----** -

 

 

 

 

 

Lance isn’t the type to wear his heart on his sleeve. He’d rather spend the time he has with other people making them laugh, hiding when he was upset. He keeps his secrets to himself, his own thoughts to people he trusts with his entire life.

He doesn’t tell anyone about his soul-mate.

When they first see Keith nearly a year after he got kicked out, Lance feels _ecstatic._ Blood pumped through his veins and he remembers his mullet, the down-turned eyes and furrowed eyebrows. He’s scared of Keith realizing that Lance is, well, _Lance._ The student who always ends up being 5th. The one who barely makes it.

He takes unconscious pilot’s arm and puts it around his shoulders, claiming boisterously that he’s saving Shiro. He sees the table in his view, then pushes it aside for extra measure. Keith looks at him in confusion, and Lance desperately wants Keith to remember him. “The cargo pilot?” Keith asks.

Lance feels like he’s sinking. Then feigns anger at the fact that Keith doesn’t remember his _rival_. It leaves a sour taste on his lips.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“You’re looking outside the window as if you’re lovesick.” Pidge says, plopping beside Lance, his eyes looking out the window where Shiro and Keith were talking. “You have a crush on Shiro?”

“No!” Lance pauses. “Well, I mean, yeah. But everyone does.”

“You got me there, pal.” Pidge leans to Lance and looks them in the eyes. “You’ve been acting kind of weird since Shiro woke up, and since Keith went outside to talk to him. You worried that they’re plotting against us?”

Lance thinks about it, or pretends to at least. “Yeah.” He mutters, “Kind of scared as to why Shiro shows up now, and why the other two from the mission haven’t shown yet, the Holts.” Pidge tenses up, and Lance agrees mentally. There is definitely something wrong with the scene.

“Let’s just trust them for now.” Shiro and Keith begin to move inside, and they all stand up, curious as to what Shiro’s sudden appearance means.

What happens after, no one expects.

Lance wanted to go to space to escape his soul-mate, because he never wanted to meet them. This wasn’t part of his plans. Defending the universe, piloting a giant mechanical lion, and staying in a 10,000 year old castle with a pretty alien princess.

But, oddly enough, it feels like what Lance had wanted in a long time.

 

 

 

 

 

\------

 

 

 

 

 

Hunk notices Lance’s attitude the next day. Instead of approaching the situation directly, he drops himself on his best friend’s back and feels him squirm. “Hunk!” Lance exclaims. Half in laughter and half in surprise. Hunk laughs as well, and sits up. “What’s up, is something wrong?”

“I should be asking you that question.” Hunk looks Lance in the eyes, and his best friend laughs. It’s hollow sounding, empty, Hunk doesn’t like it, and the normal, shit-eating grin Lance wears as a buffer is weak and forced. When he realizes that faking it isn’t going to work with Hunk, Lance tries to look away, avoiding the knowing gaze. “Pidge told me you aren’t feeling too good.”

His best friend gives in a moment later. “I can handle it.” Lance replies. “You don’t need to worry. I won’t let it bother me when we form Voltron, or during simulations.” _I’m a paladin before a boyfriend._ Lance repeats like a mantra. “I’ll still be acting like a professional with all this, which means acting professionally.”

“You made a comment about how the last alien we fought looked like dickbutt.” Hunk agrees, it did look the character, but Lance snorts and points

“Look me in the eyes and tell me it didn’t.”

“I’d look you in the eyes if you weren’t avoiding them.” Lance flinches. Hunk begins to worry more and more by the second. “Lance, seriously, what’s up?”

“I might’ve found out a fact that I shouldn’t have known.” Lance admits, looking down at his hands. “I don’t know how to take the information, and it’s been bothering me.”

“Is it about Keith?” Hunk asks. Lance stays silent, which Hunk takes as a confirmation. “What happened?” Lance knows he can tell Hunk, but his hands shake his classmates voices from when he was 13 still ring in his head. His mom’s voice still rings in his head. Still reprimanding. Still saying what’s right, and what’s wrong.

Hunk’s lips turn up, “Is it a soul-mate thing?” Hunk jokes. It hits Lance harder than expected, and Hunk notices the way Lance curls his body in and bites his lip. “Shit, sorry man. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“It’s okay, you’re on the mark.” Lance says. “Let me just… form the words.” Hunk nods, and waits patiently.

Lance knows that Hunk won’t make fun of him, won’t tell him he’s wrong. But Lance feels his chest hurt and he scratches his head in irritation. “So…” Lance reaches behind him and pulls his shirt up, just so the small of his back shows.

“Keith Gyeong.” Hunk reads, then gasps. “But isn’t that—?”

“Yep.” Lance pulls his shirt back down.

“But you didn’t—”

“Nope.”

“Then he doesn’t—?”

“Yep.”

“But you guys are like—?”

“Yeah.” Lance leans back. “And guess what?” He asks, Hunk leans in like the gossip they both know he is. “I looked at his wrist by accident when we were at the fake-beach a couple days ago, where his soul-mark was. I saw the name.” Lance’s mood deflates again, Hunk looks at his friend in worry, lips tugging down at the edges.

“Who was it?” Hunk asks.

“It was—”

“Lance.” A voice calls from his door, and Lance freezes. Hunk looks at the door in his stead and freezes up as well. “I need to talk to you.” Keith says, walking inside of the room, sitting in the seat across his bed, right beside the picture of Lance’s family. Hunk pats Lance’s leg in goodbye, and leaves the room.

The door behind them closes silently, but Lance doesn’t dare look at Keith.

 

 

 

 

 

\------

 

 

 

 

 

When Lance turns 16, he meets someone without a soul mark.

The person tells him about it, a little into their junior year in high school, in Lance’s attic where they both would hang out. By then, it was like they were already as close as two peas in a pod

They live on fine, not cursed by bad luck or anything of the like, not like what the rumors say. “I have a special someone,” They say. “They’re a close friend, and honestly having no soul mark feels freeing, I guess.” Gale sighs, heavy and upset.

Lance doesn’t believe it, someone with no mark. “Really?” He asks, and they smile and nod. “That’s cool! I mean, I never met someone with no mark, but dang. Can I see?” The question takes a minute for Lance to process the question, and he flushes. “Wait, not like that—”

Gale laughs. “If you want.” He winks at him, answering Lance’s question. Lance covers his face in embarrassment. Normally, he’d prepare himself before he would say such a line. He wasn’t physically or mentally prepared for the question and answer. “But I feel weird without one, since almost everyone I know has one.”

Lance frowns. “Wait, _you_ feel weird without one? A soul-mark, I mean.”

“Yeah, it doesn’t really stop me from anything, but like, everyone I know has one. It's like I'm missing out on some huge deal,” Gale shrugs. “But I mean, I got bullied from around the time I admitted the mark not being there, so I guess that's why I feel that way? Everyone expects the name to be the normal, so they get scared and freak out when they see something different from what they decide is normal, I guess. But when you think about it, it's kind of weird, right?. Two words, whether you have them or not, is such a big deal. In the beginning, it doesn't even matter.”

“That’s… that’s rough buddy.” Lance grimaces, calming down. “People are harsh when it comes to soul-marks.” Gale shrugs. “I mean, I couldn’t get a break and I got teased for my opinions on soul-mates. It isn’t as bad as you, but yeah. It’s such a weird thing to get so heated about.”

“Yeah?” Gale threw his arm around Lance’s shoulder and pulls him close. “It sucks, man. I admitted it when I was 13 and I got so much shit for a couple of words that would’ve dictated my entire future.” The 17 year old boy sighs. “I got cursed by religious people, prayed for by my mom and dad. People kept on saying that there was something wrong with me, that no one wanted me.” Gale frowns. “Kind of hurt after a while, it still hurts now, when people who don’t even know me come up and ask me why I was born wrong. I guess… just knowing no one would be on my side about this is kind of lonely. It’s tiring.” Gale’s eyes become unfocused, remembering the past, his tight grip on Lance’s shoulder loosening.

Lance awkwardly pats Gale’s knee. “I’m sorry.” Lance doesn’t explain why, but Gale nods and rests his head on Lance’s shoulder. Despite the one year difference, Lance is still taller than him. “I’m on your side.” Gale smiles.

“Okay, your turn.”

“What?”

“I told you my tragic past, now you got to tell me something about you.”

Lance pauses, and says the first thing that comes to his mind. “I have a bad feeling about my mark.”

Then Lance spills his fears.

When the boy finishes his own confession, Gale looks at him in pity and slight understanding. “If the person loves you, then they’ll love you." He nods in finality, "There’s no point in being scared of just words. It doesn’t mean you can’t love someone else. Just because you’re scared that the person won’t love you the way you love them, or vice versa, it doesn’t mean it’s going to be the end of the world. A soul-mate is one person, but there are many others that are on the same boat as you. If you love someone, soul-mate or not, you shouldn't fear for what comes after. Just enjoy it in the moment.”

“Easier said than done,” Lance muses. “But I’ll think about the advice.”

Gale gives Lance a big smile, then pulls him into a kiss. Lance doesn’t feel guilty about it, kissing Gale, because he hasn’t met his soul mate yet. Because his soul-mate doesn’t matter in the moment, while Gale is in front of him, when Gale likes him with no expectation to. In the moment, they can like whoever they want to like. He doesn’t care about Keith Gyeong. 

When they break apart, Gale’s smile is so blinding, it’s as if the world around them doesn’t exist. In Lance’s eyes, it doesn’t. Not while Gale is holding his hand and looking at Lance with so much happiness that it nearly breaks Lance's heart that such a conversation is able to bring his friend's mood up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A year later, Gale jumps off a bridge after it gets too much and Lance applies for the Garrison. Soul-marks don’t matter in space, he knows. Soul-mates don’t matter in space. Societal expectations don’t have a meaning in space, where it’s all flaming balls of fire and gas. Space is where Lance can be free of this. Space is where Lance wants to go, and what he wants to have. From this world, from humans, he feels like he's suffocating, but the application gives him fresh air.

He thinks Gale would agree with him on the opinion. So he keeps a picture of them inside his wallet, hidden from his family’s view. He holds their crappy polaroid picture together to his chest, and later on, puts it on the dashboard of his lion.

 

 

 

 

 

\------

 

 

 

 

 

Allura asks the question when they’re all tired from practice, and when accidentally sees a name on Hunk’s shoulder. “Is that what you call… a tattoo?” She asks. “Body markings to imply a certain significance?”

“Well, kind of.” Hunk answers. “It’s definitely a significance.” He looks at Pidge, who doesn’t talk about their soul marking, passing the metaphorical baton to him.

“First of all, fuck you Hunk.” Pidge replies. “And Princess, I don’t think you had these on Altea, but they are called soul-marks.” When Allura and Coran tilt their heads in confusion, Pidge scratches his head and bites his lip. “I, uh…”

“It’s basically a fucked up way of deciding your fate.” Keith pipes up.

“Keith…” Shiro warns, but Keith quirks an eyebrow and sits up from his position on the couch.

“I’m just saying.” Keith shrugs his shoulders. “On earth, back where we lived, people had marks of another person’s name on their body. That person, the one who belongs to the name, is apparently your soul-mate.” Lance feels a pain in his chest when he sees Keith’s obvious dislike towards the idea. “I don’t know about you guys, but the place I lived in seemed to glorify the meaning of a soul-mate and romanticized it, causing it to only apply to romantic or sexual situations.”

“What do you mean by that?” Lance asks, narrowing his eyes. “Aren’t soul-mates supposed to be your partner for life?” He thinks about his mom’s words. “If they’re meant to be with you forever, what’s the point of it, if it’s not to create a family with them?”

Keith’s eyes twitch, lips turning into a grimace. “I don’t like it.” He announces. “Maybe it’s because my soul-mate doesn’t care, but the whole idea of it, having someone decided for you. Maybe it’ll be better if it were in more ways than just marrying and having kids, but honestly, I don’t care for what my soul-mark says. If I love someone, and I want to create a family with _them,”_ Keith looks at Lance in the eyes, face straight, “I’ll create a family with them. Not just a person who may or may not be the love of my life.” With that, Keith leaves the room with Shiro sighing heavily.

Allura grimaces. “Sounds complicated.” She looks at Coran, “We didn’t have anything on Altea like that, did we?”

Coran shakes his head. “Nope. Us Alteans had the choice about who to love and who to marry.” Coran fiddles with his moustache. “If this soul-mark thing is the real deal, I’d love to study it.” Pidge gets onto his feet in excitement.

“Scientists have been studying the idea and cause of the soul-marks for _years,_ but they couldn’t find a scientific solution for it. I wonder if any Altean technology would help find the cause about it?” When Coran shrugs, Pidge and Hunk are already running down to the hangar to test out their theory.

Lance looks at the ground, clenching his fists. Altea feels like the best place to live, he thinks. Allura looks at Lance, who had been silent since Keith had left the room. “Lance? Are you okay?” She sits on the spot across from him, and Shiro takes his leave.

“Under Hunk’s right armpit, just below the hairs, the name there just said Shay.” Lance says, remembering the confusion he had when he just say the single name. “Pidge didn’t tell us his when we first met, despite it being like a team bonding exercise back at the Garrison. Keith and Shiro haven’t told us either.” He grimaces. “Do you know why I wanted to become a pilot in space, Princess?”

Allura leans forward in curiosity. “Why, Lance?”

“Because I wanted to impress the ladies with the fact that I’m a pilot at the Garrison. That I’m a pilot that _graduated_ from the Garrison.” He lies, and looks out the window. He sees vast space, stars miles and miles away from each other. He sees planets undiscovered by Earth and lifeforms way different than Earthlings. He sees potential planets that don’t bear soul-marks, who’s societies don’t pressure people based on words on their skin.

They’re so, so far from home. “I’m just kidding.” He doesn’t let out the snicker that rises up his throat when Allura gets up to leave, done with Lance. “C’mon, Princess. Indulge in me.” He wiggles his eyebrows and Allura rolls her eyes.

He doesn’t miss the laugh at escapes her lips when she sits down and Lance puts his hands in a prayer position, imitating the emoji. “I wanted to become a pilot because I wanted to leave the planet.” He looks around, “Though, I do wish I had a proper goodbye before I would go on such an expedition like this.” Allura looks at him, as if to say she was sorry.

“Why did you want to leave Earth? You seem to love it very much.” Lance likes talking to Allura, because she doesn’t have any thoughts about the whole soul-mark thing, she didn’t even _know_ about it until 30 minutes ago.

“It’s…” Lance frowns. “It’s weird. You’ll probably make fun of me for it.” Allura’s look is disapproving.

“Lance, I won’t make fun of you for something like this. Maybe your bad jokes, or your shameless flirting with other aliens, but not for something as serious as this.” The Princess assures him.

“I find you very _alluring_ when you comfort me like this.” Lance wiggles his eyebrows. Allura stares at him blankly. "Okay, no jokes.” He lets up, and settles himself back into the couch. “I wanted to leave because of what Keith said, with the expectations and stuff. I had a friend that, uh, had an unfortunate death involving the enforced idea of soul-marks.” Allura seems to get it, because she puts a hand on his shoulder and gives him a sympathetic look.

“Lance…”

“I’m okay now! Trust.” Lance fiddles with his hands. “It’s just that, uh, I was kind of forced to think that soul-mates were this huge holy thing that you can’t really speak out again. My mama, she didn’t believe that soul-mates were anything but the ‘find each other, love each other, have kids with each other’ ideal. And I guess it’s kind of ingrained in my own mind?” He sighs. “I guess I kind of wanted to leave the whole idea behind. Space seemed like a good escape, because no way aliens would choose soul-marks over cool abilities. Like having your life force be connected to 5 gigantic, sentient, mechanical lions.”

Allura laughs. “That’s true. If Altea were to still be here, I doubt anyone would chose that over being connected to the Defender of the Universe.” Her eyes soften and she places a hand on Lance’s knee, ignoring the way he wiggles his eyebrows. “If you want to talk to me about this, you can always tell me this, okay?” Lance nods, and it feels strangely like a mother consoling her child, who comes out as gay.

(Which was, like, weird. Why would people who like the same gender be scared to admit it? Lance will never understand how his sister can watch shows so horribly _unrealistic_ like that.)

He doesn’t talk about Gale, even though he’s the first thought that comes to his mind at Allura’s offer. He hasn’t told anyone about Gale. Instead, he nods again and says, “Okay,” like a child. Allura leaves with a skip in her step, feeling glad that she had a real conversation with the blue paladin, asides from the bad flirting and jokes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s when they return from the Wormhole Incident that the topic about soul-marks is brought up again in the ship.

It isn’t brought up right away. When they finally reunite, it’s full of tears and hugs. Lance had broken his arm and landed in a planet of water, which Blue could easily navigate through without Lance’s help. Hunk and Pidge end up landing in a place together, which causes them to be the first ones found with the radio they set up with spare parts in their lions. Oddly enough, also involved the use of tree branches. Shiro is guilt ridden, worry obviously showing on his face when the other paladins show up, checking each of their body parts in case they had been kidnapped by the Galra and had forgotten the encounter.

Keith, in the midst of it all, stands on the stairs to the hangar to get their attention, and apologizes to them, guilt ridden for trying to fight Zarkon by himself. Shiro is the first one to hug him, then Hunk, then Lance and Pidge. They missed each other too much to hold grudges, and they forgave him before.

Lance doesn’t say it outloud, but when he hugs Keith, he feels the same sense of electricity. He won’t admit it, but Lance missed the hot-headed paladin the most, soul-mate or not. He missed their banter, their constant competitions to each other. He misses the way Keith laughs at Hunk’s jokes, and how intrigued and interested he was when Pidge would talk about her latest discovery. Lance knows that even though Keith doesn’t care about soul-mates, even if Keith’s name wasn’t on the small of his back, he knows that he would still end up loving Keith the way he had figured out on the water planet, by himself.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Surprisingly, it’s Keith who brings it up, weeks later on a boring day. Nearly everything is back to normal. The red paladin definitely calmer than before, and thinks out his plans before acting on them.

This plan isn’t as thought out, Keith realizes. Then he promptly turns around and continues to put it into effect.

“I don’t care about the soul-marks.” Keith says, after sparring practise with Lance. “I don’t believe that a word should dictate your life.” Lance freezes up at the familiar phrase. “I don’t want something like a ‘soul-mate’, a name given to us by some kind of _higher being.”_ Keith scoffs at the phrase.

Lance, in his reminiscence, thinks of Gale and listens to Keith. “What are you saying?” Lance asks, lips tugging up.

“Lance, over the past few weeks, I’ve come to realize some things. When we got separated, I’d ask myself, _What would Lance do, in this horrible situation._ Then I think of how Shiro would enact it. If I were to be stuck in a situation where it involves socializing, god knows that I wouldn’t follow your example.” Lance pouts at that. “You know I’m right, Sanchez.”

“If…” Keith takes a deep breath. “I don’t care about my soulmate, and you don’t care about yours…” Lance feels his heart pound in his ears. “Would you care to, like, be my fucking boyfriend or something?” Keith scrunches his eyes shut.

Lance, in pure shock, lets out a laugh. He stifles it when Keith bristles and makes the effort to walk away. The blue paladin reaches out and grabs Keith by the collar, letting out another giggle. “Hey…” Lance furrows his eyebrows.

“What?” Keith spits out, obviously embarrassed. “If you’re going to reject me, just forget what I said.” Lance rests his head on Keith’s shoulder, looking at his flushed state. “You…” Keith groans. “You’re so annoying, oh my god.”

“You liiiike me.” Lance says, more of a confirmation for himself rather than teasing Keith. But the latter covers his face, and nods helplessly. “You like me.” He says in realization. His brain stops working, but his body is already moving and spinning Keith around to swing him around like a doll. “You like me!” Lance exclaims, grinning and laughing.

“Yes, I like you.” Keith yells, “Now put me down!” Lance does as he’s told, but he grabs Keith and kisses him on his forehead despite the latter’s shout of indignation, “You like me,” a kiss on the cheek, “I like you,” on the other cheek, “We like each other.” He pulls back for a moment, to see if Keith gives him permission.

With a flushed face, Keith puckers his lips and shuts his eyes. Lance calmly compares him to a fish.

“Yes, I’ll be your fucking boyfriend.” Lance whispers, and kisses Keith on the lips.

 

 

 

 

 

 

\------

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"I’m not angry at you.” Lance finally says. Keith, behind him, lets out a sigh of relief. “I’m sorry I’ve been avoiding you for this long.” He turns around and leans his back against the wall, looking at Keith who’s waiting for an invitation on the bed.

Lance nods, and Keith makes his way over. “You can talk to me about this.” Keith replies. “Can you tell me why you’re acting like this?” Lance nods, and bites his lip.

“When I was younger…” Lance doesn’t like the way the tension in the air settles in, it’s suffocating. “I don’t know. I was always taught at soul-mates were people who were destined to be together romantically. It was ingrained in my head, _no one will love you as much as your soul-mate will.”_ He recites the words.

“Well, I have to agree with that.” Keith says, and Lance looks at him in confusion. “What I mean by that is— your soul-mate is someone who is supposed to be with you for your life. They will most likely get you the most, understand you the most. But I don’t think that the knowledge of knowing each other and loving each other has to be of the romantic sort.”

Lance nods. “Yeah, I met a few people in my childhood who had different views. But those few, compared to the hundred that told me the same thing, I didn’t know who to believe. So I went along with the majority.”

“Shiro and I are soul-mates.” Keith says. “I’m not going to deny it, or hide it from you.” Somehow, in their conversation, their hands intertwined with each other. Lance tightens his grip, and Keith rests his other hand on Lance’s. “I love him, but the way I love him is different from the way I… _love_ you.”

Lance clenches his fist. “What if you don’t?” He asks, finally saying the right words. “What if… what if we’re together for years, years into the future. But you and Shiro actually decide that you wanted to be with each other all along? What if like, Shiro breaks up with Allura, you break up with me, and you guys go off together?” He feels the tears well up in his eyes and Lance wants to curse. “What if you decide that I’m not good enough, and you realize Shiro has always been? I’ve been so scared that my soul-mate won’t love me. So scared to think about the what if’s, the cons of soul-mates. You think it’s stupid, but I’ve been told that soul-mates can’t be platonic, they _have_ to marry. I thought my soul-mate won’t love me, or that there was the minuscule chance that they would have another name on their body.” Lance stares long and hard at the name on Keith’s arm.

“Look, Lance. You’re a little shit.” Keith’s interruption causes Lance to snap out of his, head whipping around to look at Keith’s pissed off expression. “Even if Shiro’s name were to be on my arm, or Hunk or Pidge’s, I’ll still bet you that I’d love you in a way that’s different from the way I’d love them. Yeah, Shiro and I are soul-mates, but it doesn’t define anything for us, we decided a long time ago that Shiro and I’s relationship is just strictly platonic, close, childhood friends that couldn’t be anything more. We got shit for it, but fuck those people. You don’t need to worry about your soul-mate either, Lance. If… if you love me the way I love you, we don’t need to worry about it.”

“I never told you who my soul-mate is, did I?” Lance mutters, and his boyfriend shakes his head. The blue paladin can’t say it out loud, so he breaks their hands apart and reaches behind him to bring his shirt up, showing his back. He turns around for Keith to see.

He can’t see Keith’s reaction, but he hears the sharp intake of his breath and the ruffle of clothing as Keith reaches forward, touching the mark. He can imagine the way Keith’s jaw drops, and the realization of his words. Keith rubs the spot with his thumb, and stares his name, written in comic sans.

Lance feels like he’s being electrocuted.

“Shit.” Keith whispers under his breath. “Lance— I didn’t…” Lance pulls his shirt down and turns back to Keith. “Lance, I told you… I said if you didn’t care about your soul-mate..” Keith looks so confused. “I never saw something like this, I never saw a case like this before.”

Lance shrugs. “You understand why I’m scared right now, _”_ Lance holds Keith’s hand again, feeling the leather and rough callouses on his skin. “I wanted to become a pilot because I wanted to leave. I love earth, I miss the water and rain, I miss the beach that I would go to every summer.” He holds Keith’s hand to his cheek. “I knew you were the name on my back since we met at the Garrison.”

 _“I didn’t even know who you were.”_ Keith exclaims guitily, “I cradled you in my arms, and I was your soul-mate! What the fuck?”

Lance agrees. What the fuck? “I always thought it was weird, when we first met you didn’t react the same way I had to my name. I didn’t know if it was just you didn’t consider it, or anything of the like. So I was like _‘so… my soul-mate is a little bitch.’_ And I just assumed that.”

“Thanks.” Keith replies, then bites his lip. “This is so fucked up, hey? This entire situation, with Voltron, with our soul-marks, your mark to mine.”

“Surprisingly, life fucks us up.” Lance set his lips to a thin line, finding it funny. “I wanted to leave earth to escape my soul-mate, just a name on my back at the time. But instead I ended up going to school, meeting my arch-rival who ended up being my soul-mate, leaving the school that was my dream, going to outer space to help form a giant robot that defends the universe with my soul-mate, my soul-mate’s soul-mate, a fourteen year old girl who pretended to be a boy to find out a conspiracy theory involving her missing family that was kidnapped by aliens, and a big guy who was previously so scared of flying and had motion sickness, but had overcame it all and convinced us to save an entire planet, and now I’m talking to my soul-mate about the fact that my worst fear is actually coming true.”

“It seems surreal.” Keith admits, and the two of them resorts to snickers. “I can’t fucking believe this situation, it feels so ridiculous.”

Lance nods. "Keith… Are you angry at me from hiding this from you?”

The red paladin shakes his head. “I’m not angry.” Keith replies. “Because, you know, I kind of hid the fact that Shiro was my soul-mate. If you told me earlier, I don’t know what I’d do. Maybe I’d call you creepy and obsessed with me. But… I guess us revealing our soul-marks now kind of feels like the right now.” The two of them stay in silence, just like that. “Yeah..”

“So are we good now?” Lance asks. “I’m sorry for making this into a big deal.”

“I’m sorry for hiding it from you.”

“I forgive you.”

Keith smiles, and Lance grins. “I forgive you too.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

\--- **Extra** \---

 

 

 

 

“Hey Keith.”

“Yeah?”

“I love you too.”

“Aw, babe.”

“Y’all are so gay.”

“Shut up, Pidge. We’re having a _bonding moment._ ”

 

**Author's Note:**

> me, upon putting the last few details in this fic: what if i wrote a sh/att version and posted that instead of this 
> 
> please tell me if theres any way that i can fix the characterization for these lovely space children?????? i dont want to put them in a bad light, or kind of misinterpret them. also with the flow of the fic. (honestly any advice/critique will be really helpful) there is also a lot of discourse involving lance and his heritage, so i tried to make it (family, school) ambiguous considering the fact that i have no knowledge or connections to someone who is Cuban, or at least latinx. 
> 
> if you made it this far, thank you for reading it!  
> talk to me on [twitter!](http://twitter.com/haarucchii) or [tumblr!](http://www.haarucchii.tumblr.com)


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